Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[ChrisJ]

Also the serial(?) number of the extension tool has a Lotus link(ish) - 9106316 - no idea what this means though.

My car is completely original, so if there is anything else you need photos of let me know.

[Lotusfab]

Hi Chris, thanks very much for taking the time to do that. Very helpful to us tool collectors! 

[Lotusfab]

Ps Dave, yep will keep an eye for two of everything!

[LOTUSMAN33]

Thanks Fabian, I will do the same. They should be easy enough to obtain as seen loads over the years. Screw driver may be a little harder along with the roll.

Dave  

[TAR]

PLUS ONE for the tools. I didn't have any with my car (82 Turbo)

 

[Lotusfab]

Ok x3!

[Lotusfab]

Chris, do you have an electronic engine rev limiter? If so is it a small box with a plug in to the loom and please can you post a picture? Thanks. There needs to be a lot more pictures of the Turbo car as the service manual is very sparse. There nothing in there on the turbo or the instrument connections. 

[Lotusfab]

Tim/Dave

vintage tool company has all three Spanners for £23 delivered. If you wait on eBay will be much less, but a pain to source. The slide 3/8 is also in eBay at the moment.???

[LOTUSMAN33]

Super detective work Fabian, I will check it out now. I thought the extension, socket and T bar were 1/2" drive though from when I had my last one? Could be wrong as often am!?

No looking at the photos I agree with you......see what I mean about often being wrong! ?

Dave  

[Lotusfab]

So far doing the Turbo project is a breeze compared with the S1. All the parts seem much more available and there's much more written down. Even the nuts and bolts are far more consistent. Lotus seem to have upped their game for this car!

[Lotusfab]

Turbo

Oooohhhhhhh, what have I done?

Well my technical opinion it's had it! Found the source of the smoke. It's all burned as the seal has been leaking. There are several issues now. The main shaft has a depression between the lines in the picture. Is this wear or part of the machining? There is a cut out in the compressor wheel. It looks like it has been machined, but it could be a chip? Very easy to take apart except all the videos are wrong,the nut on this turbo comes off in the normal sense, anti-clockwise!

Need to find a Garrett service manual!

[Lotusfab]

This guide may help.

https://garrett.honeywell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Turbo_Installation_91913.pdf

[Lotusfab]

Have been cleaning up the parts and have taken the bearings out. It appears to me the depression on the shaft is intentional , probably for oil. The cut out in the compressor wheel also seems to be intentional, as it is machined and marked with what appears to be a balance mark. The sealing rings are worn as are the bearings. I feel that with a rebuild kit the turbo should be absolutely fine. So plan to get a Garrettt rebuild kit for £90. Will report on how it turns out and operates  A lot of cleaning ahead but an easy job so far, of course if it doesn't work perfectly a lot of wasted time and off to the turbo recon people!

[LOTUSMAN33]

Looks like you have been having fun there Fabian and agree about the shaft and wheel, I seem to remember similar on the T2 I did.

Where are you buying the rebuild kit and what does it include?

Dave  

[Lotusfab]

 

Have decided to go for genuine Garrettt Turbo parts. Three times as much but as with anything you get what you pay for. The company behind it is quite big. Have checked the UK distributor of Garrett parts and they have dealings with the company selling these bits, so believe these are the real thing. Will let you know how it goes and look forward to testing it when the fuel system is repaired. Bit nippy at the end of my garden in the shed at the moment, so think it's going to take a while! 

Turbo rebuild is the company.

[Andyww]

That turbo looks like a thing of beauty compared to mine. It must have been rebuilt before surely. The bearings float on oil so there is a tiny amount of play and also a tiny amount of oil leak as normal, but if its smoking something is obviously not right. There is likely going to be a lot of crud in there from the crankcase breather which goes right into the intake of the turbo. 

The wastegate adaptor valve seat: On the Esprit I used to own in the 80's the valve seat had cracked up, and I replaced the adaptor. It made a huge difference. With everything replaced there was boost present when driving through traffic at 30-40 mph when there was none before, so the result was much increased throttle response. With the broken up seat there was really only any boost when accelerating or when doing 80 MPH on the motorway.

If you can get a better picture of the valve seat I could tell how it compared to my bad one.

The wastegate itself doesnt look like something salvaged from the titanic as they usually do. Much better condition than they often are.

[Andyww]

On 05/11/2016 at 14:52, LOTUSMAN33 said:

Chris

The extension bar won't be original as the little arrow means MOD property. Not an issue as loads of MOD tools are sold off each year but doubt Lotus would have put them in new cars. May have been added or swapped out at some time over the years. 

Dave  

Probably some kind of dodgy deal done as part of a secret government development project   

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Andy, will take a better picture of the wasregate valve seat. Planning on testing the wastegate today. 

Have to find a company to repair the sat in Surrey, anyone know anywhere?

[Lotusfab]

Dave/Tim

Sliding bar for tool kit £4 on eBay now!

[Andyww]

57 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

 

Have to find a company to repair the sat in Surrey, anyone know anywhere?

Repair the valve seat? I suppose it might be possible to re-grind it if not too bad but not sure how it would be done while being exactly on-centre as there is no guide as on a cylinder head.

But all those years ago when I replaced mine I got a used one from a guy called Bernard White (anyone remember him)? which was an ex-factory part from their test-bed engine. It had 4 sheared-off studs and an uneven end face and Sutton Rebore were able to remove the studs and re-face the end face. Maybe they could look at it.

[Lotusfab]

Should be possible to grind the seat to fit the valve as there is still enough a material. The turbo does look like it has had a rebuild. My guess is cheap parts and the piston rings on the shaft not seated properly causing them to wear. This time the grooves will be cleaned out correctly and high quality parts used. The bearings that were in it look substandard. The coating on them has come off.

[Lotusfab]

Turbo

Half way through the cleaning process. Understanding of the turbo has improved now I have taken it to pieces. The turbine and shaft is balanced as one unit, the nut on this bit is shaped to achieve the balance. The compressor wheel is also balanced. But the nut that holds holds the compressor wheel on is symmetrical. It is only necessary to remove the compressor nut to rebuild. Because of this it should be in balance when reassembled! 

As you can see the valve seat is damaged and corroded. There is no way this can go back on so will source an engineering company to repair. Part of the seat is corroded and the rest cracked. Just need to rebuild and test the wastegate and send it all off for repairs!

[LOTUSMAN33]

Good work Fabian, that wastegate seat is totally knackered, I think if it were mine then I would machine it out and have a Inconnel/stellite seat pressed/shrunk in. As part of my job in marine engineering we see this type of corrosion all the time, any good engineering shop can set this up in a four jaw chuck in a lathe and carry out the machining operation. 

I am definitely going to take mine off now and check and wonder how many other turbos are running around like this?

Dave  

[Lotusfab]

Have had some experience with lathes. I had initially thought weld new material then recut. I like your solution better! Have never heard of those types of valve seats? Have had someone recommended, so maybe try them and see?

[910Esprit]

39 minutes ago, LOTUSMAN33 said:

I am definitely going to take mine off now and check and wonder how many other turbos are running around like this?

 

I've yet to see one with no cracking, but Fabian's is the worst I've seen!